Education Articles

California Schools

In the Field

• Report: College tuition increased 439% from 1982 to 2007
  Rapidly increasing college tuition is causing the U.S. to lose some of its education advantage when compared to other countries, according to a new National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education report. "I don't know what it's going to take to get our nation to wake up to what's happening with regard to the education deficit we're building," said William E. Kirwan, chancellor of the University System of Maryland. The Washington Post (12/3) , The New York Times (12/3) , Los Angeles Times (free registration) (12/3)

Eye on Curriculum

• Students can benefit from tackling hardest material first
  While most teachers progress from easier topics to more advanced ones, that may not always be the best approach, according to a new study. When students were taught to classify materials according to complex criteria, they scored better when they worked on harder problems first. Researchers said those who started with easy items tended to oversimplify and did not think abstractly enough to do well. ScienceDaily (12/1)

• Study: High school math key to success in sciences
  Students who took more math in high school did better in all types of college science, while students who took high school science courses such as chemistry or physics, only improved college performance in those specific subject areas, according to a recent study of 8,474 students. San Francisco Chronicle/Associated Press (7/26)

Instruction & Assessment

• Teach thinking systematically to expand students' horizons
  Thinking requires regular practice in reading comprehension, communication skills, collaboration and writing, say Terry Roberts and Laura Billings of the National Paideia Center. Such systems can be used to stretch students as well as prepare them to reason consistently and deliberately throughout their lives. Educational Leadership (2/2008)

• Debate teaches students to research, think critically
  Debating prepares students to think critically and craft reasoned arguments, advocates say. "There is nothing more important an education can provide a child than to foster a hunger to think critically and the tools to know how," says Steven Kalas, a behavioral health consultant. Las Vegas Review-Journal (1/20)

Technology Solutions

Students from middle school to college who upload their transcripts to GradeFund.com each semester can seek out sponsors for their A's, with donors pledging cash for each A earned; site founder Michael Kopko hopes the model will help motivate younger students and aid older ones with college costs. TIME (12/2)

Small schools use video conferencing to teach advanced biology
Some Minnesota students are learning about biology via live video conferences instead of costly in-person visits to see autopsies and surgeries. Instead, the high school students joined students from other states viewing an autopsy during one such "video field trip," which officials say help smaller, less wealthy school systems keep up with neighboring districts. Education Week (premium article access compliments of Edweek.org)/The Associated Press (2/2)

Policy Watch

• Report: U.S. education spending often haphazardly distributed
  The U.S. education system often spends more on well-off students than poor ones and more for elective and AP classes than core and remedial ones, according to a new report about financing at the 97,000 U.S. schools. "Because we have a system where money is not connected to outcomes, we're not able to answer the question, 'How much should we be spending?'" said project research director Marguerite Roza, a University of Washington research associate professor. Education Week (premium article access compliments of Edweek.org) (12/2)